Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it are the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23
It is a great secret to have the eyes of your heart opened so you know what is really going on down there. Paul prays that it might happen to us all: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, (Ephesians 1:18).
It is so important to know what you really want in your heart. As I have written elsewhere, the first thing Jesus (the Incarnate Word) is recorded as saying in John’s gospel is “What are you seeking?” or loosely translated, what do you really want?
God has put eternity in our hearts (Eccles. 3:11) so therefore what we really want will always have an eternal component to it. Actually, the eternal reality is the basis of our earthly most heartfelt desires. We are all looking for something that will eternally satisfy.
Some people know in their hearts that renting a house is just not it, they must own it. What they are doing is agreeing with God’s desire to give them an eternal permanent place they can call their own (John 14:1-3). They are sharing in the same hope as those who were looking for an eternal city among the fathers of faith (Hebrews 11:13-16). The hope in God that He will give to each one of us this place of security and permanence is a heart’s desire that cannot be denied. For some this will be the assurance of it coming in the future. For others a lot of that satisfaction can be found in this age here on the earth. As David said: “I certainly believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13). It becomes a tree of life to those who find that desire satisfied (Proverbs 13:12).
The same applies to any desire of the heart. They are all rooted in eternally valid and appropriate fulfillments.
So let the Spirit search you out and let you know what it is you really want. And don’t be afraid of the answer your heart gives.
Because the heart is the seat of the emotions, intellect and will (according to the bible) there are always strong feelings, intense and oft repeated thoughts and actions that arise out of the desires of our heart.
For all of us it could not be more obvious what we spend most of our time thinking of and doing. What is your most commonly watched TV program (is it “a house in the sun” for example)? Or is it a program containing a lot of human forms and relationships (“Love Island” anyone)?
What do you do to relax? What are you thinking of in your unguarded moments?
One way of looking at the Christian walk is that of capturing all those thoughts and bringing them to the Christ dwelling with you in your heart (2 Cor. 10:5). For Christ dwells in our hearts through faith:
…you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:22-24.
The process of being renewed in the spirit of our minds includes the taking of every thought of our hearts captive to Christ and asking him what he thinks about it. Sometimes you might be surprised at his answers. We are very often not like him at all in the way we think (Isaiah 55:8) but we do have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) to call on at all times if we choose to do so. Putting on the new man is to continuously walk in submission to the thoughts of Christ over our own thoughts.
Keep a constant watch over what your heart is thinking. Let God show you how your desires correspond to his. He put those desires in the heart of every child of God. He hasn’t made a mistake when he lets you reap the consequences of that sowing.
You don’t really understand the heart of God if you think he wouldn’t want you to both eat the cake in this life and also have it in the next. However, he does also know whether having just the eternal version of those two or both the eternal and temporal would be best for you.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4.
faithfulwon 
What an interesting place to begin the process of “taking all thoughts captive”. To first recognize that they are all rooted in eternally valid desires. And then to ask, “Is it for this lifetime, or will it see its perfect fulfillment in eternity?” Or perhaps, “What part of this desire is for now? And what is its best expression?”
The focus has become a partnership with my Creator. Looking together at the good garden of my inner life, and working together to prune and cultivate it.
This is very different from the battle we often wage with ourselves. Which is full of shame and often triggers the very things we are trying to root out.
Your comment has added so much clarity and understanding to my post. Thank you!